"Good morning." Ella quietly greeted Damien once she entered his office.

"Good morning," Damien's response almost died at his mouth as soon as he saw Ella. He wasn't one to pay attention to clothes, much less on other people, but today was an exception.

Ella, due to the hot weather, had opted for a shin-length, light pink, loose skirt and had an open-back white blouse. Her outfits were always a bit on the feminine and softer side, and today's was no exception. She felt a little weird having her back out in the open, but her black hair was long enough to cover it, and she also didn't feel like changing again.

"Do you need something?" She placed down her cross-body purse on the sofa, looking at Damien who had been starstruck after looking at her for only a moment.

Damien cleared his throat, shaking his head. "No." He then stood up and left.

He had never seen her wear a skirt before, but then again he also hadn't really bothered in looking at her for almost anything at all. She looked different.

Damien shook his head, finding solace in the break room. No. It had to be the fact that she was helping him and that she was reliable that Damien was taking a liking to her. That was what had happened with Mr. Kim. Damien had begun to appreciate and like Mr. Kim's crazy company, therefore he paid more attention to him. That had to be the reason; there was no other explanation.

"Oh, hello." Katherine entered the room, a mug in hand in order to refill her coffee.

Damien nodded, also noticing her skirt. It was almost the same, but it seemed like Mrs. Reed's was tighter and just a tad bit shorter. It was also not a soft and neutral color like Ella's, quite the contrary. Mrs. Reed's was a dark and deep shade of red.

It must a style or trend, Damien thought.

"How's the Parker evaluation?" Katherine tried to make small talk as to not make things so awkward between them. She had last heard that he was getting a psychological evaluation.

"Ms. Cortesa is actually in charge of that as of now." Damien grabbed a water, trying to not seem as though he had just run out of his office without an actual purpose.

"Ms. Cortesa?" Katherine pulled her brows together, confused yet amused to see just how formal Damien was.

"Is that not her name?" Damien didn't think she was a Mrs. He deemed her too young to be married, but then again, what did he know about marriage?

"No, that's her. I just would've figured that you guys would've been on first name basis since you've been working together for about a month now." Katherine shrugged, taking a sip of her steaming beverage.

Damien didn't think that was necessary. They were coworkers, not friends. Besides, he had been working with Mr. Kim and the others for far longer and he had yet to address them by their first name. Ella also didn't seem to mind being addressed by her last name or addressing him by his first name.

"Hey, it's fine if you don't. We all work differently." Katherine chuckled at seeing Damien's confused expression. If it was possible for a grown man his size and age to look cute, he would be it.

After making his way back to his office, he found Mr. Kim and Oliver hanging out in there. At this point, it was something normal for Damien. Since Ella had been staying in his office for the majority of the time, so had the people that would come and visit her. It was almost as if they couldn't work the day without having a brief moment to talk to her or to see her.

"Bye, Ellie!" Mr. Kim said after wrapping up the conversation quickly as to not bother Damien too much.

"Bye, Jihye." Ella waved, laughing as he danced his way out. "Watch the door, Oliver." She warned him as he almost ran into it.

"What an idiot." Mr. Kim's voice was heard even after the office door was closed, and Ella laughed, drawing her attention back to her laptop.

Damien, on the other hand, paid attention to her. Just now, she had addressed both Mr. Kim and Mr. Pruette by their first names. Maybe she would be more comfortable if they addressed each other by their first names instead. However, just before he could say something, Ella beat him to it.

"You're visiting Jamie again today, right?" She bit down on her lip, watching as Damien nodded in agreement. "I just wanted to check if it's still okay that I go with you?" Her eye pupils seemed to enlarge preciously when asking the question, and Damien quickly looked away.

"Sure. We'll leave in another three hours."

Ella didn't say anything else, and neither did Damien. In fact, Damien would even go out of his way just to make sure that he didn't have to talk to her to even look up to see her. All of the thoughts that had recently been invading his mind proved to make him uncomfortable. He couldn't understand his recent fascination with how her hair bounced with her every step or how her eyes were so bright whenever she would look at something that even just the least bit endearing to her. Instead, he drowned and lost himself in his work, something that always proved effective. It wasn't until Ella was standing right in front of him with a pink notebook and pen in hand that he was brought back to reality.

"Sorry," she smiled sheepishly, and suddenly, her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. "I just figured I should let you know of the time."

Damien checked his watch, realizing that it was time to go. "Oh, right." He agreed, and they both grabbed their belongings before leaving in Damien's vehicle again.

"Could I talk to her this time?" Ella asked Damien as they were being escorted through the facility. "I kind of want to get a feel for some things."

"Sounds good." Damien agreed, letting Ella sit beside him this time instead of standing in the background.

Calmer than last time, Ella sat straight, leaning a little closer to the table in eagerness to finally speak to Jamie herself rather than just listening to the conversation. Once the doors opened, Ella jumped up, smiling warmly at the inmate that seemed just a tad bit better than last time.

"Hi, Mrs. Parker. I'm Ella Cortesa." Ella outstretched her hand, and Jamie seemed wary but had a firm handshake.

"What's going on?" Jamie looked at Damien expectantly.

"She's a psychologist that is here to help us with your case, Mrs. Parker." Damien reassured her, pulling out a few documents.

"Do people think I'm crazy?" Jamie's voice raised in tone, clearly nervous. "Why?" She sputtered out in disbelief.

"No," Ella firmly said, drawing Jamie's attention back to her. "Despite popular belief, people out of their sane minds are not the only ones who need psychological help. I'm just here to help you and try to get others out there understanding what exactly it was that you went through." Ella gently explained, and Jamie nodded, still not seeming to understand very well what was happening. "I'm really sorry to ask this of you, I understand that it can be painful and hard for you, but I really need to know in order to understand and help you better."

"As long as it helps to get me out of here." Jamie nodded, wiping some stray tears that had fallen.

Ella looked at Damien briefly, and Damien nodded, silently letting her know that he also got what Jamie had said.

"Could you please walk me through the events that happened that day?"

So Mrs. Parker did. Ella repeated her words over and over again as she walked through the crime scene after leaving the facility.

Damien watched her as she would walk in one way, then walk in through another one. She would bend down and measure things with her pen before moving on, then returning to the gruesome scene.

"What is it?" Damien finally asked after seeing Ella pull up her hair in frustration.

"It just doesn't add up." Ella held the pen in between her teeth and lips as she tied a loose pony, some strands falling to frame her face. "Look," she took the pen out of her mouth and pointed at the notebook where she had previously taken notes. "She says that the altercation began as soon as he walked home from work, right?" Damien nodded. "Yet when we watched the footage of him walking by the store only a short three minutes before arriving, he was fine. He had a bounce to his walk, his arms were swinging by his sides as if he had no cares in the world."

"He arrives and slams the door open." Damien followed, walking back to the front door. "The mark is here." He points to the wall, and Ella moves closer.

"This is red, Mr. Petrotti." Ella points to the hole that has just the tiniest bit of red surrounding the hole.

"What are you saying?" Damien sighed, starting to have mixed thoughts about the entire situation.

"Mrs. Parker got her facts confused or..." Ella sighed, getting a chill through her bones, her skin getting goosebumps, "or it's staged." She looked at Damien carefully, who now reached to take Ella's notebook.

"She dropped her glass when he entered but only his fingerprints were found on it." Damien took a deep breath, rolling up the sleeves of his white button-up.

"She didn't say that in the police report though," Ella quipped, walking over to the bloodstains on the wall.

"Why lie?" Damien questioned, wondering how he hadn't seen these details before.

"I think it was definitely self-defense." Ella studied the marks. "There's not much bloodshed on the walls, so she was just trying to get him off her. She stabbed him twice, then he collapsed, and due to her shock and fear, she failed to call 911 fast enough, so he bled out on the way to the hospital." Ella leaned closer to Damien to see her notebook that was still in his hands.

"You don't think she purposely let him bleed out?" Damien countered, not knowing what to believe anymore.

"No." Ella responded without missing a beat. "Why call 911 when he was still alive? Why only stab him twice?"

"She loved him, but why?" Damien couldn't wrap his mind as to why love such a cruel person. Why allow another being to cause you so much pain? He had seen the pictures of her previous beatings, and it was awful, but not just leave? "Victims of abuse go through this. There's got to be a connection." Damien looked at a tired Ella.

"They're not strong enough to leave or they're strong enough to stay. Pick your poison." Ella rubbed the back of her neck, getting cricks already at the sudden revelations.

Damien checked his watch, seeing that it was way past lunchtime, meaning that Ella was in need of a break. He was accustomed to working in such conditions, but he had to remember that Ella wasn't.

"Shall we go to a restaurant nearby for lunch?" Damien offered, deciding to call it a day with the Parker case. He needed some time to collect his thoughts now with the appearance of new proof coming to light.

"That sounds amazing." Ella smiled gratefully, grabbing her things from Damien before following him out.

The ride to the restaurant was short, and since it was no longer break time for most employees, they were seated quickly.

"This is nice." Ella looked around in amazement at the large and airy place Damien had introduced her to.

"I don't really dine in a lot, but their food is usually good." Damien picked up his menu, wondering what he was going to get this time. They kept quiet while deciding, and once the waiter came, Damien ordered a steak with vegetables while Ella was still looking. "Ms. Cortesa?" Damien ignored the odd look the waiter gave him when he called out to Ella.

"I think I'll just have this sandwich, please." Ella pointed at the title that was written in some foreign language. "Thank you." She gave him her menu before shaking her head at her hesitance to order food. It was always a hassle trying to decide what to have, especially at new places.

"Would you prefer it if we referred to each other by our first names?" Damien blurted out, watching as Ella turned her hazel eyes back to his.

"So you would call me 'Ella'?" She pointed to him, then to herself.

"And you could call me 'Damien'." Damien watched her reaction carefully, trying to know if he overstepped a boundary. Maybe she didn't mind him addressing her formally? Perhaps she didn't want to address him by his first name. Instantly, he felt silly for even proposing such an idea. "Actually, you-"

"I would love to, Damien." Ella made it a habit to not interrupt people when they were speaking, but seeing how Damien was quickly retreating his progress with her had her jumping to the gun and interrupting.

Damien smiled a small smile. "Alright then, Ella." He watched as Ella's smile widened.

That only made his own smile and fascination with her grow.